


Waking Up Remix

by phoenix_173



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Asgardian Magic, Darcy is the worlds greatest girlfriend, De-Serumed Steve, F/M, Sam and Bucky are bad wingmen, Tony's a troll, fluffy cracky funtimes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-07
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-30 12:07:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5163248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenix_173/pseuds/phoenix_173
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A remix and continuation of 'Waking Up' by phoenix_173.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waking Up Remix

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Waking Up](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4510242) by [phoenix_173](https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenix_173/pseuds/phoenix_173). 



> So I originally wrote this because nobody snatched up my prompt on tumblr and I really wanted to read it. It ended up pretty short because I just didn't know where else to go with it. Enter Katie. All the awesome belongs to her, I'm just her cheerleader. The smut is mine, and I apologize in advance for it. Thanks for reading and let us know what you think. --Nix

* * *

 

The first thought that Steve had upon waking was just how much harder it was to breathe.

The second of course, was that his clothing was much too large.

He had jumped into the fight that Thor and the Asgardians had inadvertently brought to Earth without hesitation. He didn’t understand why the Asgardian enchantress was trying to destroy Thor, he didn’t need to. Thor called him his shield-brother. The phrase had been a foreign one to Steve at first, but he understood now. He would do what was needed to help Thor, just as Thor would do what was necessary to help him.

Steve didn’t hesitate to throw his shield in front of Thor to offer protection. He couldn’t have understood that the beam of energy meant for Thor would ricochet, fragment and distort off of the vibranium. He couldn’t have foreseen one of those rays hitting him squarely in the chest.

And he definitely had not seen waking up on the victorious battlefield as a much smaller Steve Rogers.

 

* * *

 

 

The scientists and doctors that had poked and prodded at him for the last ten hours were baffled. He was given a high tech, microscopically small hearing aid, an inhaler and medication for his heart murmur as the Nation’s most brilliant minds tried to figure out how Captain America had effectively been de-serumed back to his frail pre-Project Rebirth body.

He was finally released and made his way back to his room, unsurprised to see Sam and Bucky sitting on his couch, the shield lying in front of them on his coffee table.

“Feels like 1941 all over again,” Bucky breathed in astonishment.

Sam couldn’t find his words as he looked Steve over. He had of course seen the pictures, been to the Smithsonian exhibit and even bought the souvenirs. But seeing Steve Rogers, all five feet, four inches and ninety-eight pounds of him was quite a shock. The face was nearly the same, and the eyes, while unsure and anxious, were still the same clear blue.

“Bucky and I have been talking,” Sam started out. He knew Bucky was nervous about breaking this to Steve. If Sam was being honest, he was too. Steve never wanted to back down, in any appearance his body took. It would be better to just rip the Band-aid straight off. “Until they can figure out a way to get you back, we’re going to split carrying the shield.”

“Okay,” Steve said quietly, staring down at the shield that had defined his life for more than half a century. He knew he couldn’t carry it at the moment. Knew he was incapable of doing it any longer. He looked to Bucky, his best friend. The only living person left who knew what he had been before. Who was familiar with the shape his body was now. “What do I do now?”

“You can do anything you want, Stevie. Absolutely anything.”

 

* * *

 

Steve didn’t know what he wanted to do. Nearly everyone in Avengers Tower had an opinion though. They ran the gamut from the ridiculous.

 _“Male model,”_ Clint proposed with all the gravity that any of his ridiculous suggestions could hold.

“I could always use a capable analyst,” Maria Hill had offered. “The serum didn’t give you that strategist’s brain, Steve. You’ve still got it.”

Steve didn’t want to watch the battles though. He didn’t need to see his friends putting their lives on the line when he was only capable of watching the video feed and offering useless directions.

It was Tony who had the best idea of all.

“You should go back to school. You have the money. You have the time. You have the brain. Go back and get that bachelor’s degree in Art History or whatever you want. Pick up a co-ed who likes her men string-bean-esque and dressed like their grandpas, and then maybe you can finally get your v-card punched. And by v-card I mean cherry popped. And by cherry popped I mean---”

So Steve enrolled in a few classes at NYU. History of Western Art, Quantitative Reasoning: Games of Chance(which was just a really fancy way of saying _Learning how to Count Cards when playing Blackjack_ ) and his absolute favorite class.

Concepts in Social & Cultural Analysis.

And his interest in the class had absolutely zero to do with course content.

 

* * *

 

 

Darcy Lewis loved her job. She was a teacher’s assistant at NYU, working on that last bit of her doctorate in Political Science. She had Pepper Potts to thank for the job. It had only taken one week of Darcy’s employment at Stark Industries as Lab assistant to Jane Foster for Pepper to hand her a handsome severance package and an appointment card with an interview time on it for NYU.

Honestly, Darcy and Tony had only managed to blow up _one tiny lab_ and Pepper knew that the two of them were not destined to work together.

So Darcy returned to the land of academia, living in a cozy little apartment which Pepper was secretly subsidizing, far away from the world of superheroes she had fallen into. She still went out to dinner twice a week with Thor and Jane. Still chatted on the phone every other day with Erik Selvig. Still texted constantly with Tony about ideas to make his next suit more bedazzled.

But she quite liked her new life. She hoped to turn her doctorate into a career as a professor. It was nice to have a hand in shaping a young mind’s education. It was something she was good at.

When the fall semester started and the sociology professor to whom she had been assigned gave her the task of running weekly discussion and study sessions amongst the students in the class. She organized her group of ten students to meet in a study room in the library and had brought along candy and soda and all sorts of fun ice-breaking activities.

She smiled at one of the students, he was dressed in a ridiculous plaid button down and khakis that went up way past his waist. She had tripped over him at the book store a few days ago and thought, despite the weird hipster old man clothes, that he was absolutely adorable.

And It had taken one errant, off topic discussion during the study group, about the anti-vaccination movement, for her to be completely enamored with him.

He was at least ten years older than the rest of the students. And Darcy had respected him for that alone. It wasn’t easy going back to school with a bunch of 18 year old babies and it showed that he was truly interested in learning and broadening his horizons.

“You know what’s nice? Not having tuberculosis,” Steve said with a sharpness and authoritativeness in his deep voice that made Darcy sit up a little straighter.

“America is built on freedom…” another student played devil’s advocate.

“Son, I know what America is built on,” Steve snapped, his jaw ticking. “You can have all the personal freedoms you want, but when you’re endangering innocent children and the public welfare, that’s not exercising a freedom. That’s sacrificing the greater good for an ideal.”

Darcy quirked a brow at Steve. Sure he was 28 years-old, but the son comment seemed a bit much.

“So now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let’s talk about twitter. Who here has got one and why on Earth is that relevant to an intro level sociology course?”

 

* * *

 

“You’re very talented.”

Steve slammed his notebook shut and looked up guiltily. He swallowed as Darcy looked at him with a knowing smirk. She reached for his notebook and asked,

“May I?”

“I---uhm, sure,” Steve blushed a pretty shade of pink as Darcy slid the notebook to her and opened it, perusing his sketches. There was a lot of architecture. He had always found that drawing buildings was very soothing when his nerves were a little off. She paged through the sketches of buildings and fireplaces, ornately recreated woodwork and fell on a page that made Steve’s pink blush deepen into more violently red shade.

One perfectly sketched eye. One arm curved on top of a desk. A ridiculously detailed sketch of a set of plump and tempting lips.

“Is that---those are my lips, Steve,” Darcy said quietly.

“I’m sorry if that’s intrusive or offensive to you,” Steve said quickly. “It’s just...you’re made to be sketched. I mean to say---”

“Would you like to go and get some coffee with me, Steve?” Darcy asked with a smile, sliding his sketchbook back to him. “I already checked, and it’s not against the rules. So long as I don’t coerce you into anything.”

“You could coerce me into anything you wanted,” Steve muttered to himself before squeezing his eyes shut in irritation with himself. “I’m sorry, Miss Lewis. That was rude.”

“That was NOT rude. That was a-dorkable. Please, feel free to keep it coming.”

 

* * *

 

 

Steve and Darcy had been on three dates before Sam and Bucky’s curiosity got the better of them. Steve had only explained that the girl was the teacher’s assistant in charge of group study sessions and that she was gorgeous and funny and insanely smart.

Bucky had only seen him so starry-eyed over a dame twice in his life. Once with Peggy Carter and earlier than that when an 18-year-old Steve had declared he was in love with the movie star Hedy Lamarr.

Sam had _never_ seen Steve react that way to a woman before.

So they were both naturally curious and wanted to see what all the fuss was about this Darcy-girl.

Natasha had refused to go along with it, stating that she had run her own checks on Darcy and was perfectly happy that Steve had found her and that she knew they’d probably wind up being quite happy with one another.

That did little to deter Sam or Bucky, and Steve physically winced when he and Darcy walked out of the study room one evening, hand in hand to see the pair of idiots dressed all in black, wearing sunglasses indoors, staking out his study session from a single cubicle in the library.

“Yowza,” Sam breathed, looking Darcy over from head to toe. He snapped a picture covertly and sent it to Stark.

“You said it,’ Bucky nodded. The girl was gorgeous. She looked like she had just stepped out of any of the Howling Commando’s favorite magazines, all lush curves, red lips and soft brown curls.

“Do you know these guys?” Darcy whispered in Steve’s ear, her hand squeezing his.

“They’re my roommates,” Steve explained. “And they’re leaving.”

“Aww, don’t be that way, Stevie,” Bucky frowned. “Lets all go grab a drink and get to know each other better.”

Sam got a text consisting of _bwaaaaaaaaaaahahhahahhaahahahaha._ Then another text right away that he read aloud, “The tin man says, congratulations on the future punching of your v-card.”

Steve grimaced and nearly turned purple. He blew out an exasperated breath and gave Darcy an apologetic smile, “I really hate my friends.”

 

* * *

 

 

The first time Steve spent the night in Darcy’s apartment had been an accident. She had insisted that they watch through as many Harry Potter movies as they could once she realized he hadn’t seen one of them. They had fallen asleep with their heads on her pillows and their hands intertwined.

Darcy didn’t understand the ridiculous bouquet of flowers she had received the next day with a thank you card from Tony Stark, but she figured it was because he finally found the packages of caffeinated jelly beans she had stashed around his lab on her last visit to the Tower.

The second time Steve spent the night in Darcy’s apartment had been after a dinner Darcy had cooked (lasagna, a family specialty and it had been delicious). Steve had brought the wine and finally remembered what a lightweight he had been before the serum. Rather than allow him to catch a cab back to his place, she had manhandled him into the bed and cuddled up beside him.

The third time Steve spent the night in Darcy’s apartment had been after two months of dating. He had tried and failed to make her dinner (who knew microwaves could burn something to the point of it being inedible?) and he had been entertaining her with stories of Bucky and Sam’s disastrous attempts to win over and woo a co-worker of theirs named Maria, while they picked at the remains of the Chinese takeout they had procured.

“I don’t see why they can’t figure out that they should BOTH date her,” Steve laughed. “I mean, Maria is one heckuva dame, there’s no way one of those idiots can be enough for her. With the two of them, they have a shot at her not killing them within the first few dates.”

“Oh my God, Steve. I’ve never heard a better argument for polyamory,” Darcy giggled. She sighed happily and lay her head on his shoulder. “I love you.”

“What?” Steve breathed.

“Nothing, I didn’t say anything,” Darcy said quickly, her body language stiffening as she pulled away from him, closing up the containers of takeout with suddenly trembling hands. She couldn’t understand how she had let that slip from her trout mouth.

Of course she meant it. She did love Steve. It had snuck up on her. One minute she was thinking how great her artist, hipster boyfriend was, even if every once in awhile he slipped into his affected hipster 40’s slang. The next minute she had been staring into those perfect blue eyes and the realization that she was in love with him had hit her like a Mack truck. She had been keeping those feelings under lock and key though for the last two weeks.

The last thing she wanted to do was scare him off.

“Doll, did you say...do you---” Steve felt his breaths coming in hitches and realized that in order to get through this conversation he was going to need his inhaler. He was going to need a little help catching his breath when he was through with kissing her.

“Here,” Darcy reached across the coffee table and handed him his inhaler.

“Thanks,” Steve nodded, taking a hit from the inhaler before smiling at her and saying softly, “I love you, Darcy.”

“Oh. Good,” Darcy breathed.

Then she giggled.

Then she tackled him to the carpet, her hands everywhere all at once, her mouth plundering his.

She straddled his waist, leaning over his chest to continue kissing him. She broke off the kiss to whip her shirt off over her head before leaning back down and resuming where she left off. Her tongue stroked against his as she deepened their kisses.

Steve stroked her back and arms as she mapped his chest under his shirt. She broke their kiss again, to start sucking and licking her way down his neck.

“Your shirt needs to come off, like, now.” Darcy whispered in his ear before biting his earlobe.

Steve groaned and sat up when she leaned back and giggled. Steve reached behind his head and pulled his shirt over his head one handed while his other hand continued to caress her back.

“I think we should take this somewhere more comfortable than the floor doll.”

“That sounds like an excellent plan,” Darcy grinned at him.

They made their way down the hallway to Darcy’s bedroom without major injury, just barely. They couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other. Once they were in the room however, Steve stuttered to a halt and just looked at Darcy. She saw such love and desire darken his bright blue eyes it left her a little breathless.

“You’re beautiful Darcy.” He told her, ghosting his hands down her neck, over her shoulders and down her sides.

He gently lead her backwards towards her bed, when she felt the bed at the back of her knees she sat down and leaned back before pushing herself back until she was laying down on the bed.

Steve followed her crawling up the bed on his knees until he hovered over her and started peppering gentle kisses on her face and neck. As he sucked gentle kisses across her collarbone, she reached beneath her back and undid the clasp of her bra. She flung the garment in the approximate direction of her dresser and ran her fingers through his hair as he continued to move down her body.

Steve’s hands continued to smooth down her sides as he kissed down her body. His right hand travelling back up her side to cup her breast as he kissed down her other breast and sucked her nipple into his mouth. She groaned her approval as he gently took her nipple between his teeth. He released her breast with a soft pop as he switched sides.

He looked up at Darcy from under his ridiculous lashes as his left hand started toying with the button of her jeans.

“Is this ok, Darcy?” He asked.

She looked down at him, looking for all the world as if he’d just won the lottery. His hair disheveled from her fingers running through it, his pupils blown wide with desire and his lips swollen from their kisses.

“It’s more than ok. In fact, it’s the most okayest thing ever.” She grinned down at him.

Steve smiled back at her as he slipped the button open and peeled her jeans down her legs before repeating the action with her panties.

Once he’d deposited her panties on the floor, he undid the button on his khakis and stepped out of them leaving him in dark grey boxer briefs.

He crawled back up her body, leaving kisses and bites on her legs before settling between her open thighs. He looked up at her one more time, noting how her hair seemed to halo around her head and her teeth dragged over her lower lip as she gazed down at him.

He nuzzled her hip before pressing a soft kiss to her neatly trimmed pubic hair. He licked delicately up the length of her sex. His nose bumping into her clit as he repeated the motion.

Darcy gasped as she felt him gently tongue and nibble her labia. Her hands stroking his head and neck where she could reach him.

Steve continued to lave her with his tongue, occasionally taking her clit into his mouth and giving a gentle tug before soothing it with his tongue. Each time he did that, he’d circle her clit with the flat of his tongue before flicking it a few times with the tip.

As he worked her over with his mouth he gradually brought one hand up her leg and sunk one finger into her entrance.

Darcy moaned as she felt him pump one of his fingers into her. She’d always noticed how large his hands seemed for his body, but how they were definitely artist’s hands.

“Yes, baby. Your hands feel so good on me.” Darcy whimpered at him as he continued to work her over with his fingers and mouth. With each stroke she reflexively squeezed her hands in his hair. He liked the feeling of her tugging on his scalp.

Steve’s free hand squeezed her hip before travelling up her torso to her breast. He caressed it before pinching and rolling the nipple between two fingers and he added a second finger to her pussy.

Darcy started slightly before moaning some more as she started to feel the stretch. Steve picked up the pace with his fingers and started to rapidly flick her clit with his tongue. He could feel her walls start to flutter against his fingers. He curled his fingers in a ‘come hither’ motion with every pump.

Darcy’s orgasm crashed over her. She clenched down on Steve’s fingers as she rode out the high, holding Steve’s head to her body. Steve continued to nuzzle at her, with the occasional lick to soothe her down from her peak. Once she stopped clenching his fingers he slipped them out of her body sucked them into his mouth to lick them clean while he pressed the side of his face to her hip. His breathing a bit more labored than usual.

“Need your inhaler?” Darcy managed to whisper when she had caught her own breath.

“I’ll be fine,” Steve smirked, kissing her hip, moving to her bellybutton and working his way back up her body until his lips captured hers once more. She could taste herself in his mouth. He broke away and whispered, “Love you.”

Darcy smiled into the kiss before breaking away and reaching for her bedside table. She rooted around in the drawer before a muffled “Ah ha!” had her holding up a condom triumphantly.

She flipped them over in a move her college roommate taught her and straddled Steve’s waist. She smirked at him before shimmying down his legs to pull his boxer briefs off. She crawled up his legs to straddle his hips and took a moment to appreciated the beauty of her boyfriend.

“God, you’re gorgeous.” She told him, placing an open mouthed kiss to the tip of his dick, before ripping open the condom and rolling it on down his cock. Next time she’d take her time worshipping him the way he had her, but right now, she wanted to ride him.

Darcy gave him a slow stroke before kneeling up and positioning herself above him. She slowly sank down on him until she was flush with his body. She sat there for a moment just savoring the feeling of having him inside her. She experimentally clenched her pelvic floor muscles. Steve gasped in response.

She smirked down at him, “Oh honey. You have no idea what you’re in for.”

She started rolling her hips, rising off him shallowly. His hands stroked her hips and waist, squeezing rhythmically. He had the most intense expression on his face. She leaned over him and kissed him, running her tongue over the seam of his lips until he opened to her, then stroked her tongue in sync with the rise and fall of her hips.

She pulled back and leaned back, propping her arms on his thighs. With every movement his cock brushed over the spot he’d been stroking earlier. He brought his hand from her hip to his mouth and briefly sucked his thumb before moving it down to her clit and started rubbing in small circles.

She could feel his breathing increase and knew he was close. His attention to her clit had her close too. She leaned forward and braced her hands on her headboard and increased her pace.

“Oh, yes, Steve, yes, faster. Right there, c’mon baby.” She panted

“I’m close doll. So close. You feel so good. So tight around me. Guh.” Steve moaned.

He pinched her clit lightly and that sent her careening into her second orgasm of the night. That sent Steve over the edge of his own. He pulsed into her as she leaned down and rested her face in the crook of his neck.

“Remind me to text Sam to tell your friend _tin man_ that if he honestly thought you were a virgin before tonight, then he is the dumbest box of rocks on the face of the planet. I mean...kudos on the sex, babe. A+ work.”

 

* * *

 

 

They had weekly standing dates to see whatever movie the small art house theater was showing. He dragged her to the MOMA about once a month, while she took him to concerts at smaller local venues that featured local musicians. They spent a day at Coney Island riding all the rides, and spent probably more money than they should have at the games on the boardwalk. But they came away with a small stuffed bear holding a Captain America shield that Steve won her and a large stuffed unicorn that she won Steve.

“I will bake you that cake you like so much if you let me take a vine of you saying _it’s so fluffy!_ ” Darcy offered.

“Are you going to send it to Sam?” Steve asked knowingly.

“Psssh...there’s no need for all that, he subscribed to me weeks ago!” Darcy laughed. “Okay, you will get that cake you like AND I will do that thing you like in the boudoir.”

“I would rather do that thing YOU like in the boudoir,” Steve arched an eyebrow.

“Deal. And recording in five...four...three…”

 

* * *

 

 

Darcy woke slowly that morning. She felt surprisingly warm, and as a result was reveling in the warm nest on her bed. In fact, she was a little too warm, but when she went to kick the covers off, she found herself anchored to the bed by an arm. A heavy arm. Wait. That's not right. Where did the heavy arm come from? The only arms that should be in this bed with her besides her own would be those of her boyfriend Steve, but Steve's arms are scrawny. Like barely-any-meat-on-his-bones scrawny. Not this heavy, muscular, (did she mention heavy?) thing currently pinning her to her mattress. That thought, more than anything else shook her to full awareness.

She sprang out of bed with a shout, “What the fuck! Who the hell are you and what in the name of Thor are you doing in my bed!?!”

She backed her way across the room keeping her eyes on the blurry shape still covered in her blankets. Since the blanket blob seemed to be slow to wake, she took a chance and grabbed her glasses off the nightstand. The blob then focused itself into a man shaped lump. A large man lump. That groaned.

“Darcy?”

She squeaked in reply. It knew her name! The man lump knew her name! What the actual fuck?

“I don't know how you got into my apartment, or how the fuck you know my name, but you need to leave before I call the cops. You know what? Fuck that. I'm totally calling the cops.” _As soon as I find my phone_ she muttered to herself.

The man lump levered himself up and into a seated position against her headboard. She noticed he was wearing part of a ripped shirt. Like he flexed too hard and just busted right out of it. He ran a hand over his face before looking up at her. She flinched as he stared at her.

“Darcy? Doll? Wha's sa matter? Why are you yelling?”

“What's the matter? What's the matter? How about how did you get in my apartment? How do you know my name? Oh my Thor. What did you do with my boyfriend?!? Steve! Steve, honey, where are you? I swear on Odin's saggy left nut, if you've hurt him, I will taze you so hard your grandchildren will be feeling it in 50 years.”

He continued to stare at her, his mouth dropping open a little and she had to admit, for a home invasion, he was pretty ripped. Like not Thor levels of ripped, but beyond your average gym rat ripped. As if he'd realized she just gave him a once over, he looked down at his lap where his hands had been resting and startled. Holding his hand in front of his face his eyes got wide and he looked down at his chest and seemed to let out a breath of relief.

Wait. Relief. Why the fuck was this guy relieved? She geared herself up for an epic rant about assholes who break into other people's homes when the guy cut her off.

“Darcy honey. It's me. It's Steve.”

“No. Dude, just no. Steve is like 5' 4'' and 110 pounds after a big meal. You, you home invasion gym monkey are at least 6'2'' and 250. You are not my Steve. And seriously. Why haven't I called the cops yet?” she asked herself.

The man lump who called himself Steve, started to get out of the bed, but stopped abruptly as she said, “Nuh-uh. No sir. You stay right there. I've got a taser and I'm not afraid to use it. Even if it is illegal in this ridiculous state.”

He stayed sitting on her bed staring at her. Darcy stared back. Man lump looked kinda familiar. Something was pulling at the back of her mind. The shape of his mouth. The color of his eyes. The crease between his eyebrows as he started to speak again.

“Darcy. Honey. I swear it's me. I know I look different, but I promise it's me.”

She frowned at him. “Oh yeah? Prove it. Tell me something only my Steve knows.”

He frowned back at her. Deepening the crease in his increasingly familiar brow. “Like what? We met at that bookstore 4 blocks over. You tripped over me because you couldn't see over the seriously impressive stack of books in your hands. A week later we discovered you were the TA in my sociology class. You invited me out to coffee after that. Our first official date was a walk through Central Park after an art house showing of The Maltese Falcon. You like maple syrup on your bacon. And you really like it when I do that thing with my tongue...”

“Ok, ok, ok! I don't know how you know all of that. Have you been spying on me? Explain to me how my artist boyfriend who can barely do 10 push-ups turns into tall, blonde and spends too much time at the gym?” she shot back, crossing her arms, but still not going for her phone.

Gym-rat Steve heaved a sigh and started, “I know this is gonna sound crazy, but....”

 

* * *

 

 

By the time Steve finished telling her about how he was really Captain America and some freak magical attack had reverted him to his pre-serum body Darcy was exhausted. She had sat on her bedroom floor and listened wide-eyed as Steve recounted Erskine's experiment, glossing over most of World War Two, his defrosting, his own alien invasion, the fall of SHIELD and the nonsense with Ultron. By the time he finished explaining about the incident involving an Asgardian Enchantress from 5 months ago she was sprawled out on her back staring at the ceiling trying to reconcile the hipster-looking asthmatic artist she'd fallen for with the Greek god-like specimen still sitting in her bed.

She was having distinctly uncharitable thoughts towards Asgardians at the moment. Not just the enchantress that caused this, but Thor as well. You would think he would have mentioned the incident at their bi-monthly 'drag Jane away from the tower to make sure she's still alive' lunches. She was sure she'd mentioned Steve during these get-togethers. There was no way she wouldn't mention him. He was incredibly adorable, she distinctly remembers showing them both the selfie she'd taken after their first date.

Darcy flew into a sitting position as an epiphany hit her like a Mack truck.

**Tin man.**

She crawled to her bedside table and grabbed the phone she had been so desperate to find earlier and dialed one of her more recent contacts.

“Wassup Short and stacked?” Tony Stark’s grinning face appeared on the phone.

“Wassup? WASSUP?” Darcy repeated. She turned the phone’s camera to Steve in the bed. Steve pulled the covers up even though he wasn’t exactly nude, just sort of barely clothed in the tattered remains of his pajamas. “That is wassup, you insufferable asshole.”

“Oh, hey Capsicle. You’re all beefy again. HEY THOR. It worked!” Tony shouted behind him.

“Did it ever occur to either you or Thor to tell me that I was dating Captain America?” Darcy demanded hotly. “Or maybe tell Steve that you were trying to reverse it so he wouldn’t wake up in my bed all steroided up and scare the living daylights out of me?”

“Lady Darcy, I am most pleased to see that your Steven has returned to his true form,” Thor’s golden head popped into view of the screen.

“You know Thor?” Steve demanded from the bed. “And Stark?”

“She is my most beloved lightning sister, Steven,” Thor announced happily. “It gives me great pleasure to see that you have found love with each other. It is a great match of two worthy warriors.”

“She used to be my lab monkey. We blew something up and she got canned!” Tony tried to be seen around Thor’s gigantic dome.

“You all suck!” Darcy grumbled hanging up the phone and throwing it on the bed. She looked at Steve appraisingly, her head tilted to the right. Sure, he was pretty to look at, but she loved the way her Steve had looked. She worked at her bottom lip as Steve looked at her with obvious concern and apprehension. He looked like he was prepared for the worst. Like she was going to drop him like a hot potato over all the secrets and the huge change her life had just undergone. Finally she blew out a breath and said, “You’re still my Steve on the inside, right?”

“Of course, doll,” Steve nodded, his big blue eyes widening with hope.

“And you still love me, right?” Darcy shrugged.

Steve threw the blankets off of him and hopped out of the bed, taking two easy strides with his ridiculously long legs before he was all up in her personal space with all of his new muscle and bulk. Her eyes naturally went to where his eyes had been before, just an inch above hers and was met with the sight of his massive chest instead of his baby blues.

She couldn’t help but pout.

“What’s wrong, Darce?” Steve wondered anxiously.

“I’m going to miss being able to look you in the eye,” she admitted with a shrug.

Steve smiled before wrapping a beefy arm around her waist and hoisting her up effortlessly so they were eye to eye again.

“Better?” he asked.

“Very much so.”

 

* * *

 

 

Darcy had a class that afternoon, and Steve had to return to Avengers Tower so that every doctor in the medbay could run every test in their arsenal. Dr. Turk may have even pulled out a victory dance after seeing that Steve was back to normal. Steve had grimaced, but let the young surgeon have his moment rather than call attention to it.

Darcy promised to find her way to his place in the tower (for the first time in their relationship) after her class and he eagerly waited for her there.

The spacious Stark-appointed apartment was a pig-sty. Steve had been spending very little time there in the last few months and Sam and Bucky had obviously used his absence as a reason to live it up as pack-rats.

Steve had done three loads of laundry, run the dishwasher three times, and managed to find all the stinky beer bottles hidden all over the place. He had had to empty the vacuum cleaner 5 times from the accumulated dust, dirt and dog hair. Apparently Lucky the Pizza Dog had become a frequent visitor in his absence. Maybe the addition of Clint would explain all the extra dishes, laundry and dirt...

When his roommates returned, Steve was spraying the second bottle of febreze over every upholstered surface, seriously considering just tossing the whole couch and asking Stark for another one.

“Stevie, it worked!” Bucky laughed, walking up to his best friend and wrapping his arms around him in a hug. “Man, it’ll be nice not to have to lug that shield around anymore. Barton’s been giving me non-stop shit about my aim being off because of it.”

“It’s really nice to have you back, man,” Sam grinned. “The shield was throwing off my balance too. I’ve done way too many barrel rolls in the last few months.”

“Gentleman, Miss Lewis is on her way up in the elevator,” Jarvis announced.

“Shit,” Sam breathed.

Bucky began pushing Steve back to his bedroom forcibly. Steve tried to argue but Bucky shook his head and promised, “Don’t worry, punk. We got this. Just hide.”

Steve stepped into his room and furrowed his brow at the sight. Clint and Lucky were on his bed, halfway through a pizza and six pack, looking non-plussed.

“Did Darce kick you out now that you’re going to have to get your star-spangle back on?” Clint wondered. “Cause I’m not moving out of your room. Squatter’s rights, Cap.”

“She didn’t kick me out, I’m not living with her...I mean, we never talked about it,” Steve mumbled.

“I’ve been living in your room for two months, dude. You’re definitely living with her,”Clint arched an unimpressed brow. “And you better not fuck it up. Darcy’s a hell of a girl.”

 

* * *

 

 

Darcy stood in front of Steve’s apartment door and held up her hand hesitantly. She looked up and asked, “Jarvis, is Steve back?”

“All residents of the apartment are currently at home, Miss Lewis,” Jarvis answered back.

The door flew open and Sam and Bucky both appeared, grins on their faces.

“Darcy! It’s a big surprise to see you,” Sam stepped out of the apartment and Bucky followed, closing the door behind him. “Steve’s not home right now. Want to go for a drink?”

“Uhm...what?” Darcy furrowed her brow.

“Come on, play wingman for us,” Bucky cajoled her. “Sam’s been striking out left and right with Maria, since, you know she’s totally keen on me.”

“In your dreams, metalbeard,” Sam scoffed.

“Steve’s right. You should both date her,” Darcy nodded.

“Take pity on us, Darcy, come on out,” Sam wrapped an arm around her and walked her to the elevator banks. “Steve’ll meet us later.”

“You guys are being weird,” Darcy accused. “Are you sure Steve’s not home?”

“Nope, he had to go to the gym,” Bucky lied poorly. “He’s been working out a lot lately. I think you’ll start seeing a difference soon.”

“Yeah Stevie’s really packing on the muscle,” Sam nodded in agreement. “He’s like a whole different man.”

Darcy rolled her eyes and ducked under Sam’s arm and marched back to their apartment.

“Jarvis?” she called out. “Let me in.”

“Captain Rogers has granted his permission,” Jarvis acquiesced, popping the lock.

“Stupid punk,” Bucky muttered as they followed Darcy back into the apartment.

Darcy stood in the living room, where Steve was standing with a smile and a bag full of clothing.

“Oh my god, oh my god,” Darcy deadpanned. “My boyfriend is actually Captain America. This is entirely new and shocking information.”

“Surprise?” Steve laughed at her.

“She knew?” Bucky demanded.

“She didn’t dump your ass?” Sam asked.

“You really thought I would buy that Steve packed on eight inches of height overnight?” Darcy demanded, glaring between the two idiots. “By going to the gym?”

“It was worth a shot,” Sam shrugged. He smiled at Darcy and asked, “How you doing with all of these big changes?”

“I’ll let you know once I’ve catalogued each and every one,” she replied with a smirk.

“Hey, let me know if his junk got bigger!” Clint called out from the bedroom. “I gotta bet with Stark that I’m gonna need photographic evidence for.”

 

* * *

 

 

Steve really did start moving into Darcy’s place after that, bit by bit. Darcy was on the verge of asking him to before he ate the wrong _Alice in Wonderland_ cake and doubled in size. And now that he had effectively lost his room to Clint, it made even more sense.

The thing was, now that Steve had taken up the mantle of Captain America again, she didn’t get to see that much of him. He had to drop out of his classes, and was away four days out of the week on missions.

“I miss you,” Darcy whispered as they lay in bed on one of the rare nights Steve was home.

Steve furrowed his brow, not knowing if she meant it as _I miss the way your body used to be_ or if she meant _I miss having you around all the time_. He hoped it was the latter, because there wasn’t much he could do about the former. There wasn’t much he wanted to do about the former.

Being shrunk back to his pre-serum body had been devastating. Even with all of the miracles of modern medicine, it had been hard to go back to inhabiting a body that seemed one small push away from breaking. And although he enjoyed his studies, he had been missing being of some use to the world.

The only good thing that had come out of the Asgardian shrinking magic had been Darcy.

He loved her so much that he couldn’t quite remember how it felt to not have her in his life.

“I’m sorry?” he offered tentatively, still not sure what she missed.

“I had to do the laundry by myself yesterday,” Darcy shrugged. “I liked doing it with you.”

“You liked doing it with me because I would fold everything,” Steve smiled softy.

“Folding is the worst,” Darcy nodded. “You should make it up to me.”

“Whatever you want, Doll, it’s yours,” Steve promised. He arched an eyebrow at her enticingly.

“Coolio. Go and fold the laundry. I just threw it in a big garbage bag straight from the dryer.”

 

* * *

 

 

Darcy’s phone chimed with an incoming text message. She smiled at Sam’s picture and read _Your boy is on his way. Mission ended early. No booboos to kiss this time._

Darcy quickly glanced over her set up, adjusting a few of her props before she sat down and adjusted her glasses. She looked at the door to their apartment with a deviant little smile and waited the three minutes it took for Steve to come home.

“You’re tardy, Steven.”

“whaaaaa?” Steve breathed, his eyes roaming over the living room and his girlfriend.

She had pushed the couch and love chair out of the way and set up the desk that was normally in their bedroom in the middle of the living area. She sat behind the desk, a stack of books in front of her and a shiny red apple in her hands.

Her favorite black rimmed glasses were perched on her nose, her hair was twisted up and secured with two pencils. And for lack of a better description she was dressed like a school teacher from one of those blue movies that Clint liked so much.

“Take a seat,” Darcy advised. “We have a lot of work to be going over.”

“Alright, sorry Miss Lewis,” Steve nodded, catching on quick, a very playful, dirty smirk hinting at the edge of his mouth. “What are we studying today?”

“I signed you up for independent study,” Darcy revealed seriously. “You’re so close to finishing the semester, that all we need to do is get two papers done and your Math final.”

“Then what’s with the get up?” Steve wondered.

“Oh Steven, I’m an excellent teacher. I knew I needed to provide you with inspiration,” Darcy smiled. She rose from her chair and grabbed a poster board from behind the couch. “This is your reward chart. When you’ve been a very good boy with your studies, you get a star. When you have enough stars on the chart, you get a very nice reward.”

Steve couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear. He shook his head and chuckled. “I really love school.”

 

* * *

 

 

Darcy was always amazed at how little Steve actually changed when he went back to being Captain America. She had almost been waiting for the other shoe to drop and for the Greek god who was her boyfriend to drop her like a hot potato and find someone a little more Greek goddess in looks.

But his face still lit up every single time he saw her, like she was the biggest ice cream sundae in the world and she was all his.

He still kissed like a champion. She would never get tired of kissing him.

And the other stuff was still great. Way way different from what it had been before. But still very very good stuff.

He was still amazingly great at doing all the domestic stuff that she never bothered to do. He was still awful at cooking. He was still totally in love with her.

And the feeling was mutual.

One perk to having her skinny little hipster boyfriend turning into Captain America overnight?

Definitely that patriotic frisbee of justice.

Darcy had been in the library, packing up her bag after a halfway decent study group she had facilitated when she heard the gunfire and the screaming. Darcy grabbed her phone and hit the floor, crawling under a table and dialed him up with shaking hands.

“Where are you, doll?” Steve huffed through the phone, the sound of air rushing roaring over the line.

“Study Room B on the first floor,under the table,” Darcy whispered. She heard more gunfire and winced. “Steve, baby, what’s going on?”

“Just stay there, stay hidden,” Steve ordered her. “We’re on our way. I love you, Darcy.”

“Yeah, I love you too,” Darcy sniffled.

Darcy flinched as the shouting and gunfire got closer and she curled herself into a ball under the table, one hand gripping her phone, the other gripping the modified taser that Tony had built for her during that first week of employment with him. As they approached she recognized that they were shouting her name.

She panicked.

_Obviously._

What if they were out there killing people because they were trying to find her? Darcy felt sick to her stomach and she began to crawl out from under the desk, inching her way to the door.

“DARCY LEWIS!” the shout was just outside the door. “Come with us or we will shoot every single student in this library. Their blood will be on your hands!”

“Oh God,” Darcy breathed in harshly before pulling herself to her feet and opening the door. She leveled her best glare at the five masked, battle armor equipped gunmen and demanded, “What do you want with me?”

“You have the passwords to this,” Goon Number One held up an external hard drive. Definitely Jane’s hard drive. Darcy knew because she had been the one to cover it with Princess and the Frog stickers. “Give us the passwords or we start to shoot.”

“Sure, the password is _fuck hydra 111_ ,” Darcy sneered at the guy.

“You don’t have to be in one piece in order to give me the passwords,” the goon sneered right back, nodding at one of his lackeys who aimed the gun at Darcy.

Darcy closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable gunshot wound.

She was surprised it had taken this long to get shot. She’d been Captain America’s girlfriend for over six months now, a friend to various Avengers for even longer than that and she hadn’t been shot once. If she was being honest with herself she was overdue.

She winced when the bullet grazed her bicep but she bit her lip and glared at them again, “Maybe I had changed the password last time I was at the lab. Try out _Hydra eats horses hit 4242_ ”.

The gunman took aim again, but instead of the sting of another gunshot, Darcy felt a powerful surge of air blow past her face as Steve’s shield whipped through the air, knocking the gunmen down before ricocheting expertly and hitting another goon.

Darcy quickly stepped back into the study room, closing the door and diving for the table as she let the superheroes do their work. Her hand went up to her left bicep and she winced at the amount of blood that was seeping through the bullet graze.

It took Steve less than five minutes to clear out the bad guys and he rushed into the study room Darcy had taken refuge in. He fell to his knees in front of the table and bent his head down to see her, relief pouring over every inch of his features.

“Darcy, thank God,” he held his hands out for her and gently pulled her out from underneath the table. He inspected her wound and his face went stony for a second at the sight of her blood.

“I’m okay,” she promised. “Probably should go get stitches.”

Steve ripped the sleeve off of her left arm easily and tied it to her wound before kissing her forehead tenderly. He scooped her up in his arms and cradled her to his chest as they made their way out of the library.

“You definitely couldn’t have done this before,” Darcy giggled, the sound stuck somewhere between amusement and hysteria. She hiccuped on the last of the sound and said, “I’m feeling kind of woozy.”

One blink of her eyes and the adrenaline free fall and loss of blood had her succumbing to blissful black unconsciousness.

 

* * *

 

 

Darcy blinked her eyes open to the blurry view of a well-appointed hospital room. And the sound of Doctor Turk embarrassing himself.

“I just want you to know Captain America, that it was my genuine pleasure to be the one to stitch up your lady friend,” Dr. Turk gushed. “I mean, I hope you’ll come back to me next time she needs stitches.”

Steve arched an eyebrow at the doctor.

“I mean, not that I want her getting hurt or anything,” Dr. Turk shook his head. “It’s just...well, it’s just I want to be the one to help you.”

“TURK! STOP FLIRTING WITH CAPTAIN AMERICA!” Dr. Dorian shrieked from across the medbay.

“JD, I’m not flirting. SHUT UP! You’re embarrassing me in front of Captain America!” Turk whined, stomping out of the room.

“Dr. Dorian is just jealous that Dr. Turk is showing his man-love for you instead of him,” Darcy mumbled from the hospital bed, smiling when Steve’s attention snapped to her. He handed her her glasses and then offered a cup of cool water. “Mmmm, thanks, baby.”

“How are you feeling, doll?” Steve murmured.

“LIke I could use a cuddle,” Darcy scooted on her bed to make room for him. It still wasn’t enough room, even though the beds in the Avengers med bay were seriously sweet. Steve still hung halfway off the bed. She giggled when he bodily lifted her and cradled her in his arms again while he sat on the bed properly. “This is nice.”

“I was so scared when Jane said the hard drive had been taken,” Steve whispered. “Jarvis tracked it and they were on their way to you and I’ve never felt fear like that before in my whole life.”

“I’m okay. You saved me,” Darcy whispered. “It’s not so bad having Captain America for a boyfriend, really. You can reach the stuff on the top shelves of the cabinets. You’re really brave about killing spiders in the apartment. Saved me from Hydra. And you still fold the laundry. All in all, this is turning out to be a pretty sweet deal.”

 

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

FUN RIGHT?  Nix is amazing, and her smut is awesome, don't listen to her note above.  And the idea was all hers.  I thank her heartily for letting me play around in her sandbox.  This is the first time I've ever collaborated with anyone, and it was so fun and she's so awesome and I can't wait to do it again! 

 

I hope you guys enjoyed this, because it was seriously wickedly fun to write.  <3 Katie.


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